I had great intentions to do a proper recap of our Israel trip promptly when I got home. However with real life happening and the weeks flying by, I am becoming more intimidated talking about the trip and being able to do it justice. So I decided I just need to start and take it day by day and here is to hoping I haven't already forgot a bunch of details.
We woke on day 2 of our trip at the Shavit Family Guesthouse in Arbel, Israel. It was a beautiful, quiet little property surrounded by beautiful garden areas. Jim and I ventured out on a morning run and had great views of Arbel cliffs. We headed back to the Shavit Family restaurant for a Galilean style breakfast that consisted of Shakshuka, bread, goat cheese, fruit, and olives - yum!
As we began exploring the Galilee area, we came across this little museum that had the "Jesus boat". A boat excavated recently that dates back 2000 years.
We then walked around the Sea of Galilee and watched the boats out on the water.
Our next stop was to the Mount of Beatitudes, this cathedral marks the area where Christ taught the Sermon on the Mount.
We found a place to sit and read Matthew 5. It was very serene. We could imagine the crowds of people following Jesus up the Mount and this area providing a great scenic view of the Sea of Galilee, and also functionally allowing great numbers of people to meet.
There were various groups traveling together that would hold little worship services on the grounds. It was fascinating to listen to prayers in many different languages.
Next we headed to Capernaum, where we ran into our friend, Amber Jensen. It was so fun to be on the other side of the world and recognize a friend.
Capernaum was Christ's home base for much of his ministry. Peter lived here.
This white synagogue is pretty iconic for Capernaum. It is remains of a synagogue build about 300 AD
This "White Synagogue" was built on the remains of the previous synagogue (darker grey stones), which is the place the place Christ would have taught there (thus called 'Synagogue of Jesus').
Statue of Peter, with Keys in his hand.
You can really tell where the rooms, homes, and streets existed in Capernaum. These towns were packed in pretty tightly back then. We would soon find out that many of the remains we would visit were reconstructions to varying degrees, but Capernaum was so interesting because the actual structural remains were left for display (rather than rebuilding it to what it would have looked like).
We also visited the excavations at Bethsaida. A few significant miracles happened here, namely where Christ walked on water and healed the blind man. Bethsaida holds significance to Old Testament and New Testament life.
I found it interesting to note that certain towns were rebuked by Christ for unbelief... Two thousand years later there are some cities that are still inhabited today (Tiberius, Nazareth), and some cities that are no longer inhabited (Bethsaida, Capernaum).
In Tagba, we visited the cathedral that celebrates the place where Christ fed the 5000. The mosaics covering the floors and walls were amazing. This mosaic featured by two fish and a loaf of bread, next to exposed rock where it is said that miracle occurred.
Olive press
Korazim or Corazin ruins featured black basalt ruins. These ruins date back thousands of years and have been partly reconstructed.
These are really old rocks!
Our daylight was running out so we decided to circle around the whole Sea of Galilee. We pulled off the side of the road in the norther Golan area to bask in the beautiful sunset.
This day of travel happened to fall on December 31st, so this was not a bad way to close out 2013. We felt very blessed.
As we watched the sun retire for the day I reflected on all that we had seen that day. The Galilee area is very scenic and beautiful. Christ's ministry was largely in this area. Jesus would go to the mountains/hills to escape the crowds and teach the people who followed him. It was probably refreshing to get away from the busy, bustling towns.
As we were enjoying the sunset we noticed this tall, metal pillar and there was this big button on the pillar. Since all the signs on the pillar were in Hebrew AND we were technically in Upper Golan (just a few miles away from Syria) AND there were a few signs in the area warning of hidden mines, I was staying clear of "the button". However, Jim is braver and more curious than me and went ahead and touched this mysterious button. Turns out this was some kind of memorial (I mentioned signs warning of mines, right?), there was a recorded message that started playing and read off about 20 names. That is our best guess, anyway, since we don't speak Hebrew. Would YOU touch the button?
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